All living creatures are subject to and respond to stress.When they stop responding they are what we call "dead."Stressors are supposed by many to be outside us, imposed upon us, or of origins external to us.But stressors can also be inside us, that is, starting within us or of internal origin.In other words, stress is internal or external and can be emotional, chemical or physical.Whatever the origin, the progressive and measurable result of stress in the human system is what scientists call catabolism or "destructive metabolism," that is, the gradual breakdown of tissues and systems over time.This gradual breakdown of tissues and systems over time is also called "aging."

The good news about this insidious and somewhat mysterious process of stress and aging is that certain hormones and immune substances that respond to stress can be measured to evaluate your body's physiological response to stress over time. The ability to measure your body's response to stress over time allows one well-versed in the physiology of stress and stress-induced illness to draw critical conclusions that assist in the development of specific strategies for reversing the damaging effects of stress.Therefore, the ability to objectively measure your physiology's maladaptation and its favorable response to stress-ameliorating strategies becomes a powerful tool in your concerted effort to reverse the damaging effects of stress, improve energy and vitality, influence favorably the process of aging and increase the potential for good health in the years that lie ahead.